School Bus Surveillance & Safety System

The Challenge

A moving vehicle environment introduces cellular signal variability, jitter in live RTMP streams, and vibration — all while the system must simultaneously manage RFID card scanning, LED matrix updates, speaker alerts, and OV2640 camera streaming. A single-controller approach would have created task contention and stream instability. The dual-ESP32 architecture cleanly separates duties: the FireBeetle ESP32-S3 handles video capture, 4G LTE connectivity, MQTT, and RFID, while the Dev Kit V1 drives the LED matrix independently — ensuring neither workload is blocked by the other.

Technical Overview

This project is a complete school bus surveillance system designed to enhance student safety and enable real-time monitoring. Each student carries an RFID card, which is scanned when boarding or leaving the bus. The FireBeetle ESP32-S3 serves as the main controller, managing an OV2640 camera for video capture and a SIM7060 4G LTE modem for connectivity. The system streams live video to a central server using the RTMP protocol and communicates status updates via MQTT. A Matrix P10 32×16 LED panel, driven by an ESP32 Dev Kit V1, displays messages such as route info or student ID confirmations. An onboard speaker provides audio alerts for students and drivers. The solution combines RFID-based attendance, live video surveillance, and real-time data communication in a compact embedded design.

Key Features

• RFID-based student attendance tracking (board / alight events)
• Live video streaming to central server via RTMP over 4G LTE
• MQTT communication for real-time status updates and remote commands
• Matrix P10 32×16 LED panel for route and student ID display
• Onboard speaker for audio alerts to students and driver
• Dual ESP32 architecture for clear task separation and reliability
• SIM7060 4G LTE modem for robust mobile connectivity